Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Here are third quarter lobbying expenditures for three telecommunications companies:

AT&T spent $3.47 million, a 19 percent decrease from $4.30 million in 2013.

Sprint spent $706,343, a 2 percent decrease from $718,096 in 2013.

Verizon spent $2.91 million, a 4 percent decrease from $3.04 million in 2013.

Here are lobbying expenditures for two cable companies:

Comcast spent $4.23 million, a 6 percent increase from $3.98 million in 2013.

Time Warner Cable spent $1.80 million, an 8 percent decrease from $1.96 million in 2013.

"These lobbying disclosure statements don't
include payments to trade associations or the sort of 'soft' lobbying
that has become a Google trademark – funds to think tanks and academic
research centers, When all that is factored in, the
amounts are staggering. Policy making is no longer about what's right;
it's all about the money."

Update:
Comcast has indicated that hat a portion of trade association dues,
based on the lobbying done by
the association, such as the National Cable and Telecommunications
Association (NCTA), is in fact included in Comcast's total reported
lobbying
amount. NCTA spent $3.81 million on lobbying in the third quarter, House
disclosure records show.